The Rising of the Shield Hero Episode 5

Filo

This week’s episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero starts off with the four heroes receiving their rewards from the king for fighting off the most recent wave. The Spear Hero receives 4,000, the Sword and Bow Heroes receive 3,800, and the Shield Hero receives 500 silver coins.

Originally, the Shield Hero was to receive no reward because the king claimed that the 500 silver coins he would have gotten offset the price for freeing Raphtalia. However, the Sword and Bow heroes intervene because they recognize that Naofumi won the duel against Motoyasu, but Raphtalia’s slave crest was removed anyway.

They also acknowledge that it was Naofumi who protected Lute village, not the royal soldiers who were sent there. Interestingly, neither hero brings up the fact that the Spear Hero received a larger award than them. My assumption is that they recognize he’s the king’s favorite, and that he isn’t receiving more money for doing more work.

While I wouldn’t call the Sword and Bow Heroes to be allies of Naofumi, it’s nice to see that they’re at least neutral parties now. And, although I don’t expect them to ever become his true allies, the fact that they recognize the problems with the country puts pressure on the king.

Raphtalia and her new slave seal

Interestingly, even though Raphtalia was freed from her slave curse mark, she chooses to have a new one placed on her.

I could probably spend a whole section discussing this decision, but I’ll make it short by simply saying this is her twisted way of showing her devotion to Naofumi. It seems to be a form of Stockholm syndrome which she developed as a slave. She thinks her worth is tied to her usefulness to the one she sees as her master.

Chocobo Gacha

While in the slave trader’s tent, Naofumi also purchases what amounts to a Chocobo gacha capsule. The rules are simple, you purchase some random, magic egg, and whatever hatches out of it becomes yours. Filolial, the Chocobo-like creatures, commonly hatch out of such eggs, but if you’re extra lucky, you might even get a dragon.

At first it seems that Naofumi wasn’t one of the lucky ones, as a regular Filolial hatched from his egg. He names the bird Filo, after it’s race, Filolial, and over the next two days she grows rapidly, eventually standing at around twice Naofumi’s height.

However, it quickly begins to seem like Filo wasn’t such a bad roll from the gacha egg game after all. Despite seeming to be a mere Filolial, she’s able to defeat Motoyasu’s dragon in a race, despite the odds being stacked against her.

At the very end of the episode, Naofumi and Raphtalia awaken to find that the giant bird they knew as Filo has been replaced by a young girl with wings coming out of her back. My guess is that this is Filo’s true form, and, if we’re to believe the OP, she can swap between her two forms at will.

Filo in her humanoid form

As of right now, I’m not sold on Filo. I’m not a fan of her giant bird form, and I simply don’t see what she brings to the table in her humanoid form. Can she fight? Is she a magic user? What does she bring to the party that Naofumi and Raphtalia need?

Also, I know it’s common for isekai protagonists’ parties to be filled with female characters, but I’m hoping for a male party member too.

Magic

Speaking of magic, in this episode we also learn a bit about the different types of magic Naofumi and Raphtalia have affinities for. You have no idea how glad I was to hear that Naofumi doesn’t just have an affinity for every type of magic like your typical isekai protagonist.

As the Shield Hero, Naofumi has an affinity for healing and support magic. Now, healing magic is fine and all as a magic type, but support magic is pretty ambiguous. My guess is that the kinds of support magic he can use would be stall-style support magic, such as making enemies target him or slowing them down.

I just don’t see the Shield Hero being able to use offensive support magic, like being able to buff his allies’ attacks. Basically, instead of support magic, he probably has an affinity for defensive magic, because that makes a lot more sense based on his class.

That said, Mash from Fate/Grand Order is a Shielder and can buff her allies’ attack by using her Noble Phantasm.

But, what’s more interesting than Naofumi’s affinity for healing and support magic is Raphtalia’s affinity for light and dark magic. Specifically, the woman at the magic shop recommends that she learn how to use illusion-type magic, which I can only assume is the Shield Hero equivalent of the Shadow Clone jutsu.

From that, we can assume that, like healing and support magic, light and dark magic aren’t typically used offensively. So, this means that there’s still an open slot for a party member who can use offensive magic. Will it be Filo with some sort of wind magic?

Myne and Motoyasu

It’s interesting to see how Motoyasu has quickly been brainwashed by the prejudices of the Kingdom of Melromarc. While the other two heroes remain skeptical of the written and unwritten laws of the new world in which they find themselves, the same isn’t true for the Spear Hero.

Likely due to the influence Myne and the king have on him, Motoyasu seems ignorant of the written laws of the land, such as the fact that slavery is completely legal. But, he’s completely driven by the unwritten rules, such as the idea that the Shield Hero is inferior by default.

Unfortunately, this also causes a problem for the series, which is that I can’t really help but see Myne and Motoyasu like Jessie and James from Pokémon. They’re antagonists, but they always lose despite their schemes, make excuses, and then swear to come back and win next time.

As Leivinia Birdway pointed out in a comment last week, they’re basically just antagonists for the sake of being antagonists. Neither one of them really has a reason to go against Naofumi, although you could argue that Motoyasu thinks he does.

But, in this episode, we see some sort of secret organization intervene after Myne and Motoyasu’s latest plot to oust the Shield Hero. It’s not exactly clear who these masked people work for, but they’re extremely knowledgeable about Naofumi and Raphtalia, and they appear to be a neutral party at the very least.

Maybe they work for an organization that actually rules the country from the shadows and Myne has to do what they say because otherwise they’ll simply replace her father with a new king. I don’t think they’re agents from a different country, but they seem to hold significant sway over Myne and even royal decrees.

Conclusion

So, what are your thoughts on the new character of Filo? How do you think she’ll fit into Naofumi and Raphtalia’s party? Also, what kinds of magic do you think are included in “support magic?” And, who do you think the masked people are who have the power to order around the crown princess of Melromarc?

Let me know your answers to the above questions in the comments, and if you enjoyed this review then click the like button ❤ down below. You should also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content or updates.

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